


Glow

by Snurtlicious



Category: Free!
Genre: Haru is angsty and thirsty, M/M, Makoto is oblivious and conflicted, Vampire AU, dive to the future relevant, there's obvi some blood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2019-07-06 19:36:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15892719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snurtlicious/pseuds/Snurtlicious
Summary: Lately, Makoto has had dreams about Haru. The kind where Haru appears before him, gazes at him with fierce, glowing eyes, and then disappears before Makoto can react. He has a hard time remembering once he's awake, though he can only wonder what is happening when Haru suddenly retreats from his side.





	Glow

                The first night Haru appeared before him, Makoto was sure it had only been a bad dream. Rendered immobile, Makoto laid in bed while Haru hovered over him menacingly. Haru’s azure eyes almost seemed to glow as they met Makoto’s own. The thought faded as Makoto climbed out of bed the next morning, a strange haze covering the rest of the dream. Makoto had lost the spare key practically the day he’d moved in and he doubted Haru would come in without telling him. Makoto shook it off; he didn’t always recall his dreams, anyway.

                The second night was exactly a week later. Makoto chalked it up to some still-lingering guilt over his ignorance of the situation with Rin. How he had shouted at the one he cared for the most, nearly shattered their relationship neatly into a million little pieces. The thought that Haru could suddenly stop caring for him or disappear from his sight was something that always made Makoto nervous, even as an adult. Makoto made the choice to not follow Haru into competitive swimming, and he was immensely thankful the pair had remained close in spite of it. Makoto still occasionally dreamt of Haru diving into an infinite ocean, lashing out somewhere he could never follow.

                “Open your eyes,” Haru’s voice rang out coolly, a drop of water in the pond of Makoto’s mind. The ceiling bloomed before his eyes, arms too heavy to move. It was as if he was chained to his bed, but there was no way Haru could have done that… would have done that.

                Makoto desperately wished to call out to Haru, but his lips wouldn’t budge. A little more than before, Makoto could feel Haru’s eyes shining an eerie light down on him. His field of vision blurred, and Makoto woke with a start to a sharp pain in his neck. Lurching forward, Makoto couldn’t have even said what his dream was about. Still, his fingers lingered at the smooth skin on the side of his neck.

                The third time, Makoto felt like he hadn’t even been asleep when Haru appeared. The door clicked shut while Makoto had a towel in his hand, prepared to take a shower. The instant he made eye contact with Haru, it was like his mind and body froze. Makoto always found Haru’s gaze to be calming, but never to the point that he felt his knees weaken. In the space of a blink, Makoto found himself in Haru’s arms.

                The blue of his iris glittered darkly, a dark red seeming to bleed out from the edges as he glared at Makoto. Despite the situation, Makoto didn’t feel terribly threatened. If anything, the look reminded him of when Haru was… hungry. He had seen the look before, directed at him from Haru since they were in middle school. Makoto had carried around snacks for him ever since, but it seemed that Makoto hadn’t quite realized the source of the gaze.

                Haru leaned down, pressing something to Makoto’s throat. Haru’s normally warm skin felt particularly cool to the touch. Makoto gasped slightly when Haru’s teeth touched his throat, quickly piercing through the delicate skin. His heart started to race, his wits sharpening ever so slightly at the sudden pain.

                “Haru,” Makoto managed to eke out in a whisper, his voice finally coming out. Haru’s glowing eyes came up to meet Makoto’s in frenzied glare. Below his field of vision was a blur, but Makoto swore something shone darkly against Haru’s mouth. Haru’s reply was cut off by Makoto’s alarm, the blaring tone only making a bit of anger well in his chest. He never remembered too much after waking, just that Haru was there. What was causing him to dream of Haru so regularly?

                It made him feel like he was losing it. The next morning, he found a bath towel haphazardly folded and tossed into the bath closet. He hadn’t remembered placing one there, nor did he really remember even taking a shower the previous evening. Perhaps the stress of school and dealing with Ikuya and his friend, Toono, was getting to him.

                After class, Makoto was surprised to see his call to Haru go to voicemail. It was unusual of Haru to not answer within the first few rings, at least when Makoto called. He politely declined an invitation from one of his classmates and left to catch the train to Haru’s apartment. He’d been there a handful of times, had dinner together, even spent time with Asahi and Kisumi, but lately Haru only met him at the pool.

                Makoto decided to text Haru and let him know he was coming, though he still hesitated to knock on the door when he arrived. He steeled himself, realizing he didn’t know why he was feeling so awkward about it. They were friends, best friends even. Nothing would keep him away from Haru. Makoto’s knuckles had barely grazed the wooden door when Haru ripped it open. The bags under Haru’s eyes were deep, making it seem like he’d either been skipping meals or skipping sleep. Makoto couldn’t decide which was worse.

                “H-Haru?” Makoto brushed past him, endeavoring to cook for him or clean, or do anything to make Haru’s day go by a little easier.

                “Makoto, don’t.” Haru grabbed his wrist, stopping Makoto in his tracks. It seemed like Haru hadn’t moved an inch, despite utterly halting Makoto’s momentum. “Go home.”

                “Why?” Makoto’s brows furrowed, attempting to pull his arm from Haru’s grasp in futility. “You’ve been acting strange lately, I keep…” _dreaming about you_ , Makoto finished in his head. Somehow, he didn’t think Haru would take it very well.

                “Look at me,” Haru insisted, yanking Makoto towards him. When Makoto looked into his eyes, he felt that sensation again. His knees wobbled, and he fell backwards, blurry vision trained on the ceiling. Makoto was surprised the impact hadn’t hurt before realizing Haru had somehow caught him and placed him on the couch in the space of a blink.

                “Haru,” Makoto slurred, his head felt like it was full of cotton. He’d had one can of sake with his father after getting accepted to college and the alcohol had made him feel sort of like he did at that moment. Distantly, he could hear Haru pacing, the pads of his feet sliding rhythmically across the floor. After a long moment, Haru appeared over him. The glow of his eyes had abated, but the darkening of his sclera had only seemed to worsen.

                “Get up, go home, study, eat, shower, sleep, and don’t remember that you came over,” Haru commanded. “Don’t worry about me for a while, focus on yourself.”

                Something inside of Makoto twisted a little at that thought. Don’t worry about him? That was practically all Makoto had done for the last few years. The thought of focusing on himself seemed impossible, but Makoto found his feet on the floor surprisingly easily. The further he paced away from Haru’s apartment, the more the scene faded from his mind. When he checked his phone on the train, he was confused that he’d lost another few hours.

                Without noticing, a week crawled by. Makoto hadn’t had a single thought about Haru until Asahi called him about visiting Ikuya’s school. Word from one of Kisumi’s classmates about his swimming schedule spurred them on. Makoto was suddenly eager to see Haru. The fact that he hadn’t even thought about his best friend once a slap in the face.

                The meeting… didn’t end well. Makoto promised to race Toono in Haru’s place, hoping to learn something about Toono or win the right to see Ikuya; a declaration of war to whatever authority Toono felt he had over Ikuya’s friendship. With the race lost, Makoto felt his determination slip, nearly biting through his lip when Toono told Haru something awful.

                _Everyone who swims with you suffers._

                Makoto jolted forward in bed, rubbing at the space between his brows. His head hurt, more than usual for the time of year. An occasional migraine from allergies wasn’t unusual, but it felt more like his brain was fighting against itself. Makoto reached for his phone thoughtlessly, opening his texts, and shot Haru a message like he might’ve done any other night.

                The instant he set his phone down, he forgot that he’d even sent the message. Makoto tried to ignore the throbbing in his ears when his phone suddenly vibrated and scared him.

                _I’m fine, go to sleep,_ the screen read.

                Makoto frowned, wondering why Haru had suddenly messaged him that. Of course, Toono had been cruel, but Makoto hadn’t considered it very much when it happened. Makoto knew he worried about Haru. It was who he was, but… he didn’t need to worry about Haru for a while and focus on himself?

                The words didn’t sit right in his mind, but he couldn’t say why. He endeavored to call Haru in the morning and set an alert on his phone to remind him. A sharp pain later, Makoto felt a warm rush of liquid down his face and realized his nose was bleeding. Makoto ran for the bathroom to help stifle the flow, ignoring how suddenly bad he felt. Maybe he really did need to be focusing on himself.

                The door opened a moment later, right on time as far as Makoto was concerned. He’d been in bed for an hour, wondering if Haru would show up as he suspected. The slow click of his shoes on the floor as he paced towards the bed made Makoto’s nerves fray, despite how his body had already surrendered itself. Before Haru could enthrall him, Makoto reached up and latched his hand onto Haru’s bicep.

                “Wait,” Makoto begged, the sleep heavy in his voice. “Where have you been, Haru? It hurts to not be able to think about you, I miss you.”

                “S-stop,” Haru grunted. “I don’t want you to do this anymore, Makoto. I wish you had never found out about me.” Haru knocked something off Makoto’s nightstand. “What are these?”

                Makoto’s head lolled to the side to see Haru handling the bloody tissue. “I had a headache and I got a nosebleed after I messaged you earlier. My head hurts sometimes when I think about you too hard.”

                Haru cursed, a sharp word bouncing around in Makoto’s head. “Look at me,” Haru commanded. Makoto didn’t have to move; he was always looking at Haru.

                “I want to stop this, Makoto. Forget that I’ve been coming by, forget any commands I’ve given you,” Haru’s voice shook. “Just once more, and then everything will be the way it was.”

                Haru sat on the edge of the bed and Makoto yanked him closer by the hand, pulling their faces together. “I love you, Haru, how could you make me forget?”

                “No,” Haru jumped back. “Forget it again, forget that you love me, forget I’m… like this. I want you to find happiness, Makoto, and that isn’t with me.”

                “Haru,” Makoto clenched his teeth, his very nature fighting against itself to obey Haru’s command. “I will always love you.”

                Makoto fell asleep with a hole in his chest, unsure why he suddenly felt so empty. He awoke the next day with tears running down his face, a shattered cup on the floor by his bed, and Haru’s name running endlessly through his head. Whatever mental block he’d had before was suddenly gone and every part of him could sense how distant Haru had grown.

                His phone blared to tell him to call Haru, but he didn’t. Makoto dressed, took his wallet and phone, and then got straight on the train for Haru’s apartment. His palm firmly slammed into the wooden door several times.

                “Haru, open up,” Makoto shouted. A long second passed, and Makoto played his ace. The spare key to Haru’s apartment had been given to him in a moment of joy and hope, though he never imagined he would need to use it.

                The inside of the chic apartment was dark, and an oppressing aura filled the space as Makoto stepped inside. “Haru, are you home?”

                The bed creaked in the loft above him. “Go home, Makoto.”

                “I’m not, Haru. You’ve been doing something to me, I don’t know what, but I can’t leave without some answers.” Makoto was honestly a little scared to find out, but he knew he had to help Haru. Nothing was worth Haru’s pain.

                “You’re wrong,” Haru spat, the venom in his tone cutting into Makoto’s ears. “You don’t want answers, Makoto. You’re afraid.”

                Makoto mounted the bottom rung of the ladder up to Haru’s loft, enough so that he could peek up and look in. A blue glow seemed to light up the nook enough for him to see Haru’s form curled up against the headboard, like Makoto’s presence was repelling him.

                “I want to know what the problem is, Haru, please,” Makoto begged. “I don’t want to lose you, Haru, I-I,” Makoto’s tongue tripped over itself as his muddled thoughts wrestled in his head. “I love you.”

                In an instant, Makoto felt like his brain was about to explode. The sudden lance of agony caused him to lose his balance and he slipped off the ladder, slamming into the floor below. Makoto could feel the blood gushing from his nose like a geyser. It ran down his face and pooled beneath the head he’d slammed on the hardwood.

                “Makoto!” Haru screeched, his face appearing in the span of a heartbeat. The frantic glow of his eyes was practically blinding Makoto, gleaming from the sea of blue surrounded by black. “Why can’t you just listen to me?”

                “You’re hurting, how can I leave you alone?” Makoto’s vision blurred at the edges as he reached up to stroke Haru’s cheek. His gaze at Makoto was animalistic, like he was barely holding back from a meal after weeks of starvation.

                “I could kill you,” Haru whispered. “I don’t want to lose you either.”

                “You won’t,” Makoto rubbed his bloody thumb over Haru’s lips. “I trust you.”

                Haru’s mouth opened, two pearly fangs gleaming in his maw. Makoto was used to the familiar prick of his teeth, but he felt a fire surge within him when all of Haru’s teeth neatly clipped deep into his skin.

                “H-Haru,” Makoto gasped, his hands coming up to push at Haru’s shoulders. It felt like a statue on top of him, like he was utterly pinned to the ground with no hope of being freed. Before he drifted from consciousness, Makoto noticed his hands felt cold.

                It was almost like dreaming after that. Disjointed flashes of old memories flickered through his head like a silent movie, black and white. Haru staring at Makoto’s neck hungrily in middle school. The first time Haru had ever bitten him. The strange pit in his stomach the first time he ever saw Haru bite someone else.

                Makoto saw a scene where he had promised Haru to let him feed on him in Tokyo, out of fear of him accidentally harming someone else. It had been coupled with a love confession from Makoto to Haru that had been forgotten. So many intimate moments the two had shared had been erased, wiped clean from his mind by Haru’s power. Makoto knew it was only meant to protect him, to prevent him from being afraid, but why make Makoto forget something so fundamental to his character? Being in love with Haru was a fundamental part of who Makoto was.

                He didn’t know how much time he spent unconscious, enough to relive what felt like a lifetime of forgotten moments. When his eyes opened next, the dark room filled with an unearthly glow. The first thing he noticed when he leaned up was that his body felt exceptionally light.

                He tore Haru’s blanket in half when he climbed out of the bed, wincing as he laid the frayed fabric back down. Haru would probably be upset later on, but the most important thing was simply finding him in the darkness. He leapt down from the loft, his feet gracefully touching the floor without even wincing.

                “Haru,” Makoto’s voice came out ten times louder than he expected, the vibration cracking a vase on the table before him. “H-Haru?” Makoto eked out again, covering his mouth. Running his fingers over his lips, Makoto noticed his mouth felt strangely heavy. He shuffled over to Haru’s bathroom and checked the mirror.

                The lime-hued light bursting from his eyes had yet to faze him, but the thick, sharp fangs that suddenly inhabited his mouth threw Makoto for a loop. Had Haru… changed him? The sound of footsteps coming up the stairs outside made him freeze. A shallow step with a quiet heel-click was always how Haru’s footsteps had sounded and Makoto nearly crushed the doorknob like a plastic bottle in his fist when he grabbed it.

                “Haru,” Makoto was overcome with a plethora of strong emotions. Anger, love, gladness, betrayal, fear, desire… Makoto reared his fist back and punched Haru in the cheek as hard as he could, the other man stumbling back a few steps in shock. Makoto then reached his thick, muscled arm forward and grabbed Haru’s collar to pull him into a hard kiss.

                The moment lasted for longer than any the two had shared before then, Makoto’s passions enflamed and fanned by whatever Haru had done to him.

                “What did you do?” Makoto interjected between kisses, his hands already sliding beneath Haru’s shirt, the delicious coolness of his lover’s skin seeming to stimulate him more than usual.

                “I killed you,” Haru replied, slowly giving in to his desires. “It was an accident, but I couldn’t lose you. I was so… thirsty.”

                “How could you do that to me?” Makoto trailed his mouth down to Haru’s neck and bit him, hard. “I feel so hungry.”

                Haru winced. “Then drink me,” he grunted in pain. “I never wanted this for you, I thought you’d be better off if you slowly forgot about me and we drifted apart.”

                “I knew since high school.” Makoto said into Haru’s neck. Makoto felt completely overwhelmed by the sweet tang of Haru’s blood, like it would quickly become an addiction if he didn’t pace himself. “Why make me forget after I offered to let you feed on me instead of strangers?”

                “I didn’t want to hurt you,” Haru replied. Makoto was surprised to see how utterly unbothered he was by Makoto’s vigorous drinking. “I never wanted to taint how perfect you are.”

                Makoto slid his teeth out, knowing he would normally be left panting for breath and groaning like an idiot after such a long drink. “I’m not perfect, Haru. I pushed back against your commands so hard that I almost killed myself.”

                Haru slammed the door shut, practically cracking the frame.  “That was my fault, Makoto. I was wrong. It would have been my fault if you had died.”

                “What made you so afraid that you had to make me forget you, Haru?” Makoto felt an abnormal burst of grief in his chest, his emotions running deeper than he remembered.

                “An older vampire once told me the blood of the one your fated partner will be the most delicious thing you’ve ever tasted and it’s true,” Haru explained. “I nearly killed you that night when I came before you had fallen asleep. You didn’t notice it, but you were stuck in bed for days after that. I haven’t eaten since then, I guess. When I smelled your blood the other day, I… lost control. I had to feed you my blood and then pray that you changed before your heart stopped beating or I would lose you.”

                “The other day?” Makoto repeated in awe. “How long was I out?”

                “Three days. Less time than I expected, honestly.” Haru reached out and stroked Makoto’s bare chest. “You’re… beautiful.”

                “Not as beautiful as you, Haru. I love you,” Makoto stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Haru.

                “I love you too,” Haru whispered back, the urge to shove his fangs into Makoto’s throat reemerging. “Forever.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was really meant to be a kind of self-indulgent-y makoharu vampire au thing. It's relevant to Dive to the Future! kind of, I thought it would be fun to try and tie it in to the show.


End file.
